Expanding and contracting tools



July 2, 1968 J. w. sovA, sR 3,390,445

I EXPANDING AND CONTRACTING TOOLS Filed oec. s, 1965 2 sheets-sheet 1 ZZ' 36T .kh A v 5 .5,0 4l-)4 l@ INVENTOR. M605 M 5014455?.

BY A July 2, 1968 J. w. sovA, sR 3,390,445

EXPANDING AND CONTRACTING TOOLS vFiled Dec. 5, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

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United States Patent Oflce 3,390,445 Patented July 2, 1968 3,390,445 EXPANDING AND CONTRACTING TOOLS Jacob W. Sova, Sr., 450 Victor Way, Wyckoff, NJ. 07481 Filed Dec. 3, 1965, Ser. No. 511,553 10 Claims. (Cl. 29-229) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A pair of elongated members, each having a handle portion and a jaw portion, said members being crossed and being pivoted together within the area of crossing and a device attachable to each of said jaw portions, each such device crossing a line through the center of said pivot whereby said devices act away from each other as said jaws close.

This invention relates to tools for expanding and contracting bendable and/or resilient forms, such as split rings and equivalents thereof, and more particularly to attachments for pliers serving to convert the pliers to tools of this kind.

Repetitive operations of placing and removing such items as open and closed rings, on clothing, slip covers, springs, and bolts, spring rings, ring clamps and clips, on such as hoses, fuel lines, and the like, are time-consuming and laborious operations, which are uneconomical when not performed with skill and speed.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of simple, easily applied, and versatile attachments of the kind indicated, which are reversible and are otherwise adjustable for operating on forms of differing construction, and for expanding and contracting work-pieces of the types indicated, in confined and difficult to reach places, which attachments render inexpensive the conversion of conventional pliers, for the indicated purposes, economically costs substantially less than the cost of providing specialized devices for the same purpose, and for the efficient performance of repetitive operations, with safeguards against over-expansion and over-contraction of forms worked on.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation showing pliers equipped with one form of attachments of the present invention, the attachments being arranged for expanding a split ring;

FIGURE 2 is a View, like FIGURE 1, showing the attachments arranged for contracting the ring;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged section, taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary end elevation, taken from the lines 4 4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged and exploded fragmentary perspective view of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of a pliers, equipped with another form of attachments;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a further enlarged fragmentary section, taken on the line 8--8 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a side elevation of a pliers, showing a further form of attachments thereon;

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged, fragmentary and exploded perspective view of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11 is an enlarged side elevation, partly broken away and in section, of a still further form of attachment; and

FIGURE 12 is an exploded perspective view, on a reduced scale, of a modification of FIGURE 1l.

Referring in detail to the drawings, and first to FIG- URES l to 5 thereof, a conventional type of expansion jaw pliers P is shown, which comprises a pair of similar crossed and pivoted handles 14 having similar opposed jaws 16 thereon. Oneof the handles has a headed pivot 18 thereon which is rotatably and slidably engaged through a dual keyhole slot 20, whereby the jaws 16 can be adjusted toward and away from each other to accommodate the `differing dimensions of work-pieces.

Attachments for the pliers jaws 16, constituted by similar but reversed work engagers 22 and 24, are mounted to the same sides of the jaws 16. Each of the engagers comprises a single at elongated preferably rectangular bar 26, formed with a longitudinally extending, centered fastener accommodating opening means, in the form of a slot 28. The inner surfaces 30 of the bars 26 are corrugated, as indicated at 32, for non-slip clamping engagement with the related fiat sides 34, of the jaws 16.

For the mounting and adjustable positioning of the bars 26, on the jaws 16, screws 36 are provided, whose threaded Shanks 38 engage through the slots 28 closely, and thread into bores 40, provided in the jaws 16, the enlarged heads 42 of the screws being preferably not substantially greater in diameter than the slots 28, and being of minimal thickness, in order to avoid unwanted contacts of the heads with work-pieces or their surroundings.

As shown in detail in FIGURE 5, the bars 26 are formed, flush with their inner ends 44, with lateral arms 46, which preferably have inner edges 48 which flare toward the bars 26, from minimal area rounded points 50. Formed on related sides of the points 50 are laterally extending right-angular, related work-contacting fingers 52, preferably of cylindrical cross section. The fingers 52 have reduced diameter axial extensions 54, on their outer ends, for making operative contact with work-pieces other than those adapted to be engaged by the main portions of the ngers 52.

In the interest of non-slip contact with work-pieces, the surfaces of the fingers 52 are formed with diametrical` ly opposed longitudinal grooves 56, and/or with encircling fine grooves 58 (FIGURES 3 and 4).

In the arrangement shown in FIGURE l, for expanding work-pieces, such as a split ring R, having spaced radial apertured terminals T, the engagers 22 and 24 are mounted to the same sides of the jaws 16, with their bars 26 in staggered substantially parallel relationship to each other, and with their arms 46 directed toward each other, and their inner ends overlapped, so that their fingers 52 are in over-reached relationship. The outer ends of the extensions 54 of the fingers 52 are then engaged with the terminals T of the ring R and are adapte-d to be moved away from each other, by closing the plier handles 14, so as to expand the ring R.

For contracting the ring R, the engagers 22, 24 are adjusted outwardly away from each other and clamped in place, as shown in FIGURE 2, so that the fingers 52 are in spaced and opposed relationship, so that when engaged with the ring terminals, contraction of the ring R is produced by closing the plier handles 14.

The work engagers 22, 24 are adapted to be angled toward and away from each other, out of the parallel relationship shown in FIGURES l and 2, wherever different accommodations of the fingers 52, to different work-pieces so require.

The form of single bar engagers 22a, 24a, shown in FIGURES 9 and 10, differs from that shown in FIG- URES 1 to 4, only in that the slots 28 are replaced by -rows of holes 28a, through which the screws 36a are selectively engageable.

FIGURES 11 and 12 shown work-engagers 22b or 24b, which are similar to those of FIGURES l to 4 and 9 and l0, except that they involve dual bars, which are parallel spaced from cach other and coextensive and registered, and are spaced and connected, at their outer ends, by cross members 5S. One dual bar 26b corresponds to the single bars 26 and 26a of FIGURES l to 4 and 9 and 10, respectively, and engages one side of the plier jaws 16, while the other dual bar 60 engages the opposite side of the related jaw 16 and carries a clamping screw 36h. The clam-ping screw 36b, instead of being threaded into a related plier jaw 16, is provided with a point 62 for biting contact with the related jaw side, and is selectively threaded through threaded holes 2817, provided along the said other bar 60.

FiGURES 6 to 8 show functionally different forms of work engagers 22C, 24C, which are secured to opposite, rather than the same sides of the plier jaws 16, and have their work-engaging lingers 52C extended outwardly from the outer ends of the plier jaws 16 for engagement with appropriate work-pieces, in appropriate situations, dictated by necessity or convenience.

The work engagers 22C, 24C comprise single bars 26C, provided with longitudinal slots 28C, through which screws 36C extend and are threaded into bores 40C, in the jaws 16, from opposite sides of the jaws. On and ush with the outer ends of the bars 26C are lateral forwardly extending arms 46c, which terminate in laterally inwardly extending and relatively reversed at terminals 66, on which the related work-engaging tingers 52C are fixed and extend forwardly. As shown in FIGURES 7 and 8, the terminals 66 are located in front of the forward ends 68 of the plier jaws 16.

It is to be noted that, when normal use of the pliers are to be performed, the attachments are quickly and easily removable therefrom.

What is claimed is:

1. A tool of the character described comprising a pair of crossed and pivoted handles having opposed jaws on one end thereof, and work engagers removably and adjustably mounted on each of the jaws, the work engager of each jaw extending toward the other jaw and lbeyond the work engager of said other jaw.

2. A tool according to claim 1, wherein each of said engage-rs has a lateral work-engaging iinger.

3. A tool according -to claim 1, wherein each of said engagers has a lateral work-engaging iinger extending laterally outwardly from Ithe jaws and in spaced relation to each other.

4. A tool according to claim 1, wherein each of said engagers has a lateral work-engaging finger extending longitudinally outwardly from the jaws and in opposed relation t-o each other.

5. In combination, a pliers comprising crossed and pivoted handles having jaws on one end thereof, work engagers comprising bars engaged with sides of the jaws, said bars having lateral work-engaging lingers, and means mounting the bars to the jaws, the bar of each jaw extending toward the other jaw and beyond the end of the other bar.

6. The combination of claim 5, wherein the bars are removably engaged with the jaws, said means comprising slots formed in the bars, and screws extending through the slots and secured to the jaws.

7. The combination of claim 5, wherein the bars are removably engaged with the jaws, said means comprising slots formed in the bars, and clamping screws extending through the slots and threaded into the jaws.

8. In combination, a pliers comprising crossed and pivoted handles having jaws on one end thereof, work engagers comprising bars engaged with sides of the jaws, said bars having lateral work-engaging fingers, and means lmounting the -bars to the jaws, said bars having lateral arms on which the fingers are fixed, the linger carrying portion of each bar extending tow-ard the other jaw and 'beyond the end of the linger carrying portion of the bar on the other jaw.

9. The combination of claim 8, wherein said bars have lateral arms on which the lingers are fixed, said lateral arms extending longitudinally of the jaws.

10. The combination of claim 8, wherein said bars have lateral arms on which the fingers are fixed, said lateral arms extending crosswise of the jaws at the outer ends of the jaws.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 758,504 4/1904 Bolding 81-423 1,557,370 10/1925 'L-ane. 2,546,616 3/1951 Scha'aff 29-229 2,725,774 12/1955 Tekse 81-423 3,040,420 6/1962 Kulp 29-229 OTHELL M. SIMPSON, Primary Examiner. WILLIAM FELDMAN, Examiner.

I. C. PETERS, Assistant Examiner. 

